PHIL-UA 1 Lecture 1: Vocab1

Vocab 1
1. Statement:​ ​A sentence, utterance or example that is either true or false.
Webster’s: “a single declaration or remark”
Encyc of Philo: “In Aristotelian logic, the most basic statement is a proposition, a complete
sentence that asserts something. (There are other kinds of sentences—prayers, questions,
commands—that do not assert anything true or false about the world and which, therefore,
exist outside the purview of logic.)”
Syn: Premise (when in an argument), Assertion (when made on its own), explanans (when
explaining something), Proposition (Synonymous with Premise)
2. Method:​ path of inquiry; rules of inquiry.
Webster’s: “a systematic procedure, technique, or mode of inquiry employed by or proper to a
particular discipline or art.”
Oxford Dictionary… of Philosophy: “ it is the "means" to pursue such a search and intend to
attain its end result. Namely it is the direction and thus, we may call it the way or approach.”
Syn: Approach, Process, Procedure
3. Principle:​ organizing rule, truth, or law.
Webster’s: “a comprehensive and fundamental law, doctrine, or assumption.”
E…ncyclopedia of Philo: “ a premise or starting point of reasoning. As classically conceived, an
axiom is a premise so evident as to be accepted as true without controversy.”
Syn: Proposition, Assumption
4. First Principle:​ organizing rule of all thought within a system.
Webster’s: “a basic, foundational proposition or assumption that cannot be deduced from any
other proposition or assumption.”
… Encyclopedia of Philo: “ any axiom, law, or abstraction assumed and regarded as
representing the highest possible degree of generalization.”
Syn: Axioms, Postulates
5. Argument:​ ​premises which logically lead to a conclusion.
Webster’s: “a coherent series of statements leading from a premise to a conclusion.”
… Encyclopedia of Philo: “ an argument is a collection of truth­bearers (that is, the things that
bear truth and falsity, or are true and false) some of which are offered as reasons for one of
them, the conclusion.”
Syn: Justification, Rationalization
6. Theory:​ an argument or series of arguments that have been proven to be true.
Webster’s: “a plausible or scientifically acceptable general principle or body of principles
offered to explain phenomena.”
… Encyclopedia of Philo: “ a supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something.”
Syn: Hypothesis, Thesis, Conjecture
7. Systems Theory:​ ​explains everything within a universe.
Webster’s: “the interdisciplinary study of systems in general, with the goal of discovering
patterns and elucidating principles that can be discerned from, and applied to, all types of
systems at all nesting levels in all fields of research.”
… Encyclopedia of Philo: “ an approach to industrial relations which likens the enterprise to an
organism with interdependent parts, each with its own specific function and interrelated
responsibilities.”
Syn: Set Theory, Everything
8. Thing:​ real objects possessed of existence.
Webster’s: “an object or entity not precisely designated or capable of being designated.”
… Encyclopedia of Philo: “ what can be observed.”
Syn: Object, Article, Item
9. Consciousness:​ the fact of awareness by the mind of itself and the world.
Webster’s: “the state of being characterized by sensation, emotion, volition, and thought.”
Encyclopedia of Philo: “René Descartes defined the very notion of thought (pensée) in terms of
reflexive consciousness or self­awareness. In the Principles of Philosophy (1640) he wrote, ‘By
the word ‘thought’ (‘pensée’) I understand all that of which we are conscious as operating in
us.’”
Syn: Awareness, Knowledge
10. Matter:​ The stuff that makes up everything.
Webster’s: “material substance that occupies space, has mass, and is composed predominantly
of atoms consisting of protons, neutrons, and electrons, that constitute the observable
universe, and that is interconvertible with energy.”
… Encyclopedia of Philo: “ the substrate from which physical existence is derived, remaining
more or less constant amid changes.”
Syn: Material, Substance, Stuff
11. Extension: ​takes up measurable space.
Webster’s: “ a property whereby something occupies space”
Encyclopedia of Philo: “René Descartes defines extension as the property of existing in more
than one dimension.”
Syn: Physical, Matter
12. Skepticism:​ doubt as to the truth of something.
Webster’s: “the doctrine that true knowledge or knowledge in a particular area is uncertain.”
… Encyclopedia of Philo: “ the position that one should refrain from making truth claims, and
avoid the postulation of final truths.”
Syn: Doubt, Dubiety, Suspicion
13. Qualia: ​phenomenon that are added to objects from the interaction of mind and matter
that are not part of the object.
Webster’s: “a property as it is experienced as distinct from any source it might have in a
physical object.”
… Encyclopedia of Philo: “ the subjective or qualitative properties of exper